An investment vehicle advised by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) has completed a 100% acquisition of a €79m portfolio of logistics and light industrial assets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The portfolio covers four key locations in these two countries with a strong focus on the Bratislava area and other gateway cities, with one site having direct access to the adjacent airport. The transaction also includes a development component with established permitting in place, allowing for expansion of the existing adjacent sites within a short timeframe.
The assets, developed by international real estate developer HB Reavis to a high standard, with a multinational blue-chip tenant base, are being jointly sold by HB Reavis Group and HB Reavis CE REIF fund.
M7 Real Estate Ltd, the pan-European investor and asset manager, has been appointed as asset manager for the portfolio, JLL has been selected as property manager and JLL Capital Markets teams in Bratislava and Prague advised on the acquisition.
Steven Sewell as executive director, head of real estate – EMEA, MIRA commented: “Our current focus is on niche real estate sectors where we see good relative value. The logistics sector in CEE is showing strong fundamentals and remains one of the most interesting property submarkets in Europe. There is a growing importance of the Czech Republic and Slovakia as key European logistics markets and these assets were available at an attractive price level.”
Marian Herman, CFO at HB Reavis said “The successful divestment of this high quality, fully let industrial portfolio to one of the sector’s top international investors reflects not only the quality of the underlying assets but also the success of our asset management strategy. These logistics centres are well-positioned to give the new owners continued upside and this transaction allows us to focus on our core segments of office and retail, while recycling the released capital into new opportunities.”
Sewell added “This investment is a perfect example of our operating model where we partner with best in class local operators and develop close relationships to drive asset performance and operational efficiency.”
Miroslav Barnáš, head of capital markets and managing director JLL Slovakia said: “We are delighted to witness yet another blue-chip institutional investor entering Central Europe, which has now become an established investment destination offering prime investment opportunities across various asset classes”
MIRA, together with M7, have identified a number of asset management initiatives across the portfolio including refurbishments, leasing of space, lease re-gears and extensions as well as potential development opportunities on land at two of the assets.
MIRA has announced a significant expansion of its global real estate platform in recent months with key appointments in Europe, USA, India and Hong Kong. MIRA Real Estate has €3.8bn AuM (as at 31 March 2016) with a portfolio of approximately 300 retail, commercial, residential and industrial properties in Australia, China, Korea, Mexico and New Zealand.
